The World

The idea that there is anything in common between the politics of the United States and Pakistan might seem absurd. But both countries have suffered appalling acts of political violence this week. And in both cases, the victims were moderate voices who spoke out for liberal values.

The political/religious motive in the murder of Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab, is indisputable. The governor was murdered by a religious fanatic, enraged by his challenge to Pakistan’s Draconian blasphemy laws. The motives of Jared Loughner, the man suspected of shooting and gravely wounding Congressman Gabrielle Giffords yesterday - and killing several other people – are not yet clear. Maybe they never will be. But Loughner had made disturbed videos ranting about gold and the constitution, which are favourite themes of the Tea Party movement.

More broadly, it is clear that American politics has become so divided that an atmosphere of violence and hatred now hangs over it. Giffords, who is actually a centrist who supports “gun rights”, has been vilified as a socialist, a fascist and a traitor. Her support for health-care reform had made her a target for conservatives – expressed in the now notorious Sarah Palin advertisement, which showed Giffords Congressional district as a target in a gunsight. Her opponent in the recent Congressional elections, was a military veteran who posed in campaign ads with a machine gun.

Events in both Pakistan and America suggest what happens when you not only disagree with your political opponents – but when you demonise them as enemies of the faith or the nation. At that point, some may conclude that it is legitimate to end the argument with bullets.

Of course, the relative reactions to political violence in both countries show that Pakistan is much, much further down the road of violent intolerance. This profoundly depressing report by Mohammed Hanif illustrates how cowed liberal and tolerant voices now are in Pakistan, where many television commentators essentially argued that the governor of Punjab had it coming to him.

In the US, by contrast, all mainstream politicians and commentators are united in condemning the attempted murder of Giffords. I suppose we should be grateful for small mercies.